BGP not yet in support of Lama’s candidature: Mokta

Deep Milan Pradhan, EOI, 22 Feb 2014: Sukman Moktan, the state level viceipresident of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, today said even though the Darjeeling Lok sabha committee of the association has invited independent candidate Mahendra P Lama for a meeting, the BGP National Committee has not decided to support him as yet.

Talking to reporters, Moktan said the final decision will be taken once the election notification is prepared. He said BGP leaders could be in support of Lama in their individual capacity, but this should not be read as the BGP’s decision.

The BGP leader further said the Gorkhaland Task Force will conduct a meeting on March 8 to discuss ways of taking the statehood demand to the national level. This will be followed by a BGP meeting on March 9. The BGP will discuss the present situation in the Darjeeling hills, its strategy to take the statehood agitation to the national level and the Lok Sabha election.

 “We had formed a Joint Action Committee to jointly pursue the statehood demand at the national level. However, differences in principles between members forced us to abandon the JAC.”

Moktan also stressed that achieving Gorkhaland could be tough but not impossible.